SA: … the governor has placed a nearly identical bill that would establish provider fees on private hospitals on his potential veto list. Advocates for private hospitals had fought the Abercrombie administration's attempt to take a 12 percent share of the extra money for hospitals, and state lawmakers, siding with hospitals, put the state's share at 7 percent.

Abercrombie said large nursing homes understood that the state needed a portion of the extra federal money. "As a result we're going to have this signing today where everybody is winning because the public interest is being served by all sides," the governor said at a news conference at the state Capitol.

Asked why he would sign one provider fee bill into law and not the other, he said they were different circumstances: "You've got special interests and the public interest, and when they coincide, why, that's a happy day."

CB: Health insurance companies are less likely to sign up for the exchange if they think only the sickest or most at-risk population will buy the plans. Insurers rely on a large population pool that includes a mix of healthy people, to distribute the risk and keep down premium costs.

“The health plans are really depending on the Supreme Court decision to enforce the mandate,” said Howard Lee, CEO of University Health Alliance, one of Hawaii’s four private insurance providers. “The question will be, if they don’t, will they want to participate in the exchange without the mandate.”

A perennial problem in the individual market is that people are incentivized only to pay for insurance when they are sick or injured.

The state has been working on setting up the exchange for months, assisted by a $14 million federal grant. But the work could be undone if the individual mandate is struck down, said George Greene, president of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

“It could put the insurance exchange in jeopardy,” he said. “If people don’t have a mandate on them to seek insurance for themselves then they are not going to do it.”

Lee said that UHA was looking into joining the exchange, but that this could change if the individual mandate is struck down.

The Hawaii Medical Service Association, the state’s largest insurer, said that it planned to participate in the exchange regardless of the Supreme Court ruling. Kaiser said that it currently intended to participate in the exchange but a spokesperson for the company would not say whether it would still join if the individual mandate was struck down.

“We can’t predict the future so I don’t know what to tell you about what if and when,” said Laura Lott, director of public relations for the health insurer.

John Henry Felix, CEO of The Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, was unavailable to answer questions.

HTH: During the speech to about 130 Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce members at the Hilo Yacht club, the governor laid out a confident outlook on the state’s future, and hinted at another speech to come later this week that he said is going to be “very, very positive” about Hawaii’s fiscal position.

Saturday marks the end of his first full fiscal year while in office.

“In a few days time I think you are going to be very well pleased,” said Abercrombie, who didn’t offer any details.

But it's fair to examine how far the outreach extends into the political realm:

» Carlson Communications has a two-year contract for more than $350,000. The primary deliverable seems to be the blog, "Say Yes to the Honolulu Rail System," that PR veteran Doug Carlson produces each day. Its pro-rail content has included posts on the rail debates among the three leading mayoral candidates. "Yes2Rail is not a political blog," he wrote May 23, but it's hard to see where the boundaries are.

» Red Monarch Strategies has a one-year contract topping $168,000. Its president, Bennette Misalucha, insisted her email urging the group Filipinos for Rail, which pressed Councilman Romy Cachola for rail support, was separate from her city-paid duties.

» One of the biggest contracts, for more than $1.1 million over two years, went to the multimedia firm Lychee Productions Inc., which did work for the mayoral campaign of former Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

CB: The meeting was caught on the Olelo Community Media recording of the meeting — it's at the 50-minute mark on part two of the recording, right after Honolulu Councilmember Ikaika Anderson speaks….

"I am the incumbent candidate for Senate District 25, and the sitting senator of the district," she reminds the board, her face flush, her voice slightly agitated.

In the video Ryan says the word "incumbent" so it sounds like "in-cum-BENT," as if to emphasize the point….

"Point of order," someone says.

"Point of order for what?" Ryan responds.

Some back-and-forth follows between Ryan and board members, who are out of camera range during this portion of the exchange. Ryan is told that board members have a right and privilege to ask questions of new applicants, but Ryan says that that was not the case for another board member, who she identifies by name: Leigh Prentiss.

"I'm just curious how you folks pick and choose who gets questions and who doesn't," she continues, her left arm waving back and forth.

"Mr. Chairman, point of order, please! This is totally inappropriate," someone says, to which Ryan responds, "No, it's not."

"Yes it is, Pohai!" a woman's voice says. "Sit down!"

"I will not sit down, I'm sorry, I have the right to be up here during my time," Ryan replies, defiant.

By this time, the camera quickly pans the board and stops just as a microphone is slammed down, apparently by Prentiss….

Somewhere during the exchange an audience member boos Ryan. Someone gasps, too.

"OK, that's enough," says another female board member, identified by Ryan as Donna. "You are definitely out of order, Pohai."

"How's it going, Donna? I'm not crying, yeah?" Ryan says, a strange smile on her face.

SA: Federal special agent Christopher Deedy shot and killed Kollin Elderts at a McDonald's restaurant last year, but only after the Kailua man harassed a customer with racial slurs, assaulted Deedy and tried to grab the agent's gun, Deedy's defense attorney said in papers filed in federal court Tuesday.

A McDonald's security officer told Elderts earlier that if he wanted to cause trouble, he should leave, and later tried to stop Elderts from moving toward the agent, Deedy's lawyer Brook Hart said in detailing the defense of his client's murder charge.

But Elderts continued to be belligerent even after Deedy identified himself as a law enforcement officer, Hart said.

When Deedy drew his gun, Elderts tried to take it away, the lawyer said.

Deedy was "compelled" to fire the fatal shot when Elderts on was top of him and punching him in the face, Hart said.

Hart's outline of the defense, being made public for the first time, was part of his request he filed asking that the murder case against Deedy be transferred from state court to federal court.

EH: …In response to critical comments from state agencies and legislators as well as the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, the National Marine Fisheries Service has postponed for six more months a decision on expanding critical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal.

Since last November, five monk seals have been deliberately killed in the Main Hawaiian Islands, a development that some have attributed to fishermen being angry over a perceived constraint on their activities.

According to Ballotpedia, of Hawaii’s 76 seats up for election in November, 71 incumbents are running for re-election. 27 of 71 (38%) incumbents will face a primary opponent. 8 of 76 (10.5%) districts are open seats, meaning there are no incumbents running in them. And in 47 of the 76 (38%) districts, there will be only one major party candidate in the general election.

“Similarly to 2010, Hawaii’s state elections will once again be dominated by the incumbent. However, with eight open districts there will be opportunities for new voices to be heard in the Hawaii State Legislature,” said Tyler King, Editor of Ballotpedia's State Legislative Competitiveness Index.

Shapiro: In retirement, Nakamura became what Coffman calls an "appalled citizen."

He served as a trustee of the state Employees Retirement System at the behest of Gov. John Waihee III, but quit after exposing insider deals that "really stunk."

That opened the door to a favoritism scandal in the Waihee administration, and Nakamura lent his name to efforts to defeat Waihee's appointment of Sharon Himeno to the Supreme Court because of her developer ties.

Nakamura was a guiding light in forcing the Supreme Court out of the business of appointing Bishop Estate trustees, a battle that led to the ouster of corrupt trustees and their million-dollar salaries.

KGI: The demonstrators also voiced concern about recent news reports on a trend for gender-preference abortions.

Lucas referred to two videos taken at Planned Parenthood clinics, in Maui and Honolulu, where staff are seen allegedly advising a woman how best to procure a sex-selective abortion of a baby girl.

The accusation resulted in legislation drafted and introduced in the state Senate to ban the practice.

“Planned Parenthood is determined to salvage every dollar out of as many abortions as possible, regardless of the reasons,” stated a press release from Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, a youth-led movement dedicated to building a culture of life and ending what the group terms “the human rights abuse of abortion.”

Rose said the targeting of pre-born girls for late-term, sex selective abortion is a growing problem in the United States. She said it is exacerbated when women are coerced into these often late-term abortions.

Rose said Live Action’s “Gendercide” project has documented Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation’s support for sex-selective abortion at six different clinics in four states and can be viewed at www.ProtectOurGirls.com.

“As the evidence has continued to mount, Planned Parenthood has run out of excuses,” Rose said. “While it claims to support women, the abortion leader refuses to end its participation in this violent and discriminatory practice.”

The Hill: Sequestration is hard because it’s supposed to be. It was intended to bring the opposing parties to the table and motivate them to negotiate a way of spending less. That is why President Obama has threatened to veto legislation overturning the sequestration; it will force us to make the tough choices in reducing the debt and deficit now. Reducing the federal deficit is the responsibility of Congress, and requires concerted action to reach a bipartisan solution to our nation’s budget needs.

This solution should not at any point include attempts to replace the sequester with deep cuts to programs that help seniors, children, and the middle class, in order to maintain tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and oil companies. That would reflect not only Republicans’ attempt to avoid the budgetary effects of their own refusal to negotiate in good faith, but also their disinterest in the concerns and priorities of ordinary citizens. A fair and balanced approach is one that continues to prioritize our national security while ensuring that important social programs continue to serve the population in need.

SA: A Korean Assembly of God church in Kalihi that currently houses 35 homeless people in tents on its grounds plans to move two dozen of its homeless clients to help run a farm in Waianae Valley in the next several weeks.

State lawmakers who have been wrestling with homeless issues from Waikiki to Kalihi to Waianae had not heard of the plan by Hawaii Cedar Church on Kamehameha IV Road, but offered praise Tuesday after the church's announcement.

State Rep. John Mizuno (D, Kalihi), who has unsuccessfully pushed for the creation of a homeless "safe zone" somewhere on Oahu, said Hawaii Cedar Church's plan can serve as an example for other churches and nonprofit organizations concerned about Hawaii's homeless.

"Government can't address homelessness alone," Mizuno said. "Our church in Kalihi is taking the initiative. They're not waiting for government and all the red tape and it's a great idea. I'm hoping they're completely successful."

The Rev. Duk Whan Kim said through a translator Tuesday that the church is in escrow to buy four acres and four homes on Waianae Valley Road for $400,000 from Mountain View Dairy Inc.

Three of the homes are currently being rented and the fourth, which has 12 bedrooms, was built in 1934 and needs to be renovated.

But within a month to six weeks, Kim hopes to have two dozen homeless people living in the vacant house and working the land raising organically grown yams, Korean cabbage and mulberry.

MN: Bulldozers and other heavy equipment cleared 40 acres mauka of Honoapiilani Highway, from Dickenson Street to Kauaula Stream, of "little tent cities" that had housed hundreds of homeless people.

Maui police, social service agencies, including the Salvation Army, Family Life Center and Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Centers; county Housing and Human Concerns officials; state Department of Health nurses and doctors, and other community groups converged on the area Monday.

Those involved in the operation on the private land, owned by Kaanapali Land Management Co., estimated that between 100 and 500 homeless people had lived in three major "villages" behind the Lahaina Aquatic Center, a cemetery and a streambed in Kauaula.

Most had dispersed to other areas when notices of the planned eviction were posted and distributed among the homeless population on June 12. There were only 18 to 20 people still at the site Monday, said Kevin Nagasaki, envoy for the Salvation Army Lahaina Lighthouse Corps., who was on-site to offer assistance….

Other agencies that assisted included the Maui Humane Society, which rounded up unleashed and vicious dogs, Shishido said. The state Department of Health sent nurses and a mental health doctor. Community Work Day assisted with the cleanup and helped separate different types of waste such as metal, tires and batteries.

"That was huge," Shishido said of CWD's contributions.

She said there were "tons and tons and tons" of debris left behind.

Others mentioned sanitation issues.

"It was pretty nasty in there," said Kenny Hultquist of Lahaina, who was filming the event. There were no Porta Potties, "so use your imagination on that one," he said.

HNN: Like all nine Honolulu city council members, Anderson pays for a reserved parking stall where he parks his red Volvo SUV in the Frank Fasi Municipal Building Parking Garage.

In December of 2010, city parking employees put a parking violation warning on his car because it was parked not in his reserved stall, but in a stall set aside for other city employees who also pay monthly parking fees.

So Anderson went to the city's parking office to try to straighten things out.

"The council member had misused his position in order to try to get basically a waiver of a parking issue," said Chuck Totto, executive director of the Honolulu City Ethics Commission.

Totto said Anderson, who is the council vice chair, threatened parking employees with re-introducing a bill that would have put council parking stalls under jurisdiction of the council, instead of the mayor's administration, meaning some parking staff could lose their jobs.

"He was shouting and threatening. The witnesses there, each one, felt that he was threatening either employment or to change the parking rules,"

Totto said, quoting testimony of four parking employees and two other people who were in the office at the time of the incident.

Anderson declined an on-camera interview and released a statement that said, "No threats of any kind were made nor did I use any profane or vulgar language….

Council Chairman Ernie Martin questioned the need for a year-and-a-half ethics investigation over a parking flap that he said could have been solved with better communication on both sides.

"The Ethics Commission's ten-page opinion issued eighteen months after the incident was done at taxpayer expense and does little to resolve the underlying tension that exists" at the parking structure, Martin said….

Anderson's statement said, "In late December 2010, I allowed a constituent, who was meeting with me, to park in my reserved stall in the City parking garage. Around the same time, a staff member inadvertently parked my car in the assigned stall of another council member, which resulted in the other council member parking their car in my stall. At the parking office's direction, I entered the parking office to discuss these matters. In light of the circumstances – the limited public parking available for my constituent due to Honolulu City Lights, an honest mistake resulting in my car and a colleague's car being inadvertently parked in one another's stalls, and the fact that I pay a monthly fee for use of the stall - I was understandably frustrated."

MN: Senate Bill 2424 was introduced by state Sen. Roz Baker, who represents South and West Maui, and co-sponsored by nine other state senators, as a follow-up to a 2010 law that aimed to regulate the local PEO industry. Thirty-eight other states already regulate these businesses.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations said that it has not been able to enforce the 2010 law, which requires PEOs to register with the state and post a $250,000 bond. The bond is to ensure that the payrolls of client companies can be covered if the PEO skips town.

Under SB 2424, starting Sunday, companies would be required to pay registration fees, produce audited financial statements and obtain larger bond amounts to do business in Hawaii. They also would face penalty fees for failure to register and comply with the rules. The registration fees and penalties are intended to help fund enforcement personnel.

Even at the existing $250,000 level, Hawaii's bonding requirement would be the highest in the nation for PEOs, according to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations.

SA: Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Monday he plans to veto a bill that would remove mandatory certification for Hawaii-grown coffee, a measure Kona coffee farmers said would be disastrous for the industry's integrity and reputation.

Abercrombie listed the bill as one of 19 from the 2012 legislative session he is considering for veto.

Kona coffee farmers who were against the certification repeal from the start welcomed the veto. The certification helps them protect their coffee against lesser-quality products, they said.

SA: By late next year, afternoon commuters headed westbound on the H-1 Freeway will have a dedicated Zipper Lane to use during rush hour, the state Department of Transportation said today.

The state DOT held a groundbreaking ceremony earlier today for its new H-1 Freeway contraflow project, which it hopes will improve traffic congestion between Pearl Harbor (near the Radford Drive overpass) and Waikele. The new contraflow lane will run approximately 7.2 miles.

Federal funds will cover 80-percent of the $82.1 million cost. Project completion is anticipated in late 2013.

SA: The city is adding a third boiler to the plant, which will expand its generating capacity by nearly 60 percent to 73 megawatts from 46 megawatts. The expansion will allow the plant to increase the amount of garbage it burns to 3,060 tons a day from 2,160 tons a day….

Under the proposed power purchase agreement HECO will pay the city from 11 cents to 21 cents a kilowatt hour for the electricity generated by HPOWER. That includes a capacity payment of 5 cents a kilowatt hour for electricity produced between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The HPOWER plant, which went online in 2000, is operated for the city by New Jersey-based Covanta Energy.

HNN: H-POWER expansion brings in cash for city “With the expansion, we'll be handling up to 85% of the island's waste and we'll be making about 10% of the island's power," said Robert Webster, facility manager for Covanta H-POWER…. Carlisle said the plant brings in more than $50 million for the city each year.”

SA: Between 2010 and today, DPP has inspected and “closed” about 8,250 photovoltaic permits — more than 6,000 this fiscal year alone.

Multiple companies are installing photovoltaic systems, with subsequent requests for inspections funneling into DPP. “We went from 3,200 PV permits to almost 12,000 PV permits in two short years,” Hiu said.

During the same period, “we closed over 34,000 permits. … That gives you a perspective” of the demands placed on the department’s 17 electrical inspectors, he said. Other inspections involve construction of new homes and commercial projects, for example.

WHT: Tradewinds has about 14,000 acres of land in Hamakua, Balog told West Hawaii Today for an article last month. Tradewinds Forest Products’ George Motta said the eucalyptus trees were planted from 1997 to 2000 specifically to be harvested, and now is the ideal time to do so, because of the trees’ size.

Tradewinds Forest Products is not the same company as Tradewinds Hawaiian Woods, a company that was planning a veneer mill in Hamakua. Tradewinds Forest Products leases land to grow trees, and was once offering funding to Tradewinds Hawaiian Woods to build the mill, the latter company’s CEO Don Bryan said. Tradewinds Forest Products was part of a partnership with Hancock Timber Resource Group, which leased the Kamehameha Schools land to grow the eucalyptus trees.

When Tradewinds Forest Products pulled funding from Tradewinds Hawaiian Woods in July 2010, the association between the two ended, Bryan said.

Tradewinds Forest Products tested harvesting and shipping logs to Oahu to be burned at an island power plant instead of coal. Transporting the whole logs wasn’t cost-effective, Motta said at the time.

Tradewinds Forest Products will also supply wood to Hu Honua Bioenergy when that company finishes converting a defunct coal-powered energy plant to a bioenergy facility.

Balog said the contract with Tradewinds Forest Products means about eight new jobs for the trucking company, and about 15 new jobs total for the Big Island.

Hawaii is one of Handful of States Which Allow Agency to Do Its Own EIS

SA: An EIS is a disclosure of potential negative environmental impacts and mitigation plans to lessen those impacts.

This EIS is lacking in mitigation, just statements that the worst scenarios are not going to happen. It is worrisome that Hawaii is one of only a few states that allows the same office to be both the proposing agency of a project and the accepting authority — in this case, the city's Environmental Services Department. This lack of oversight must be legislatively remedied.

SA: The Honolulu Police Department’s Community Policing Resource Center can help you get involved in making your neighborhood safer and more pleasant, perhaps even less noisy.

That’s done either through citizens patrols or neighborhood security watches.

For your area, call HPD’s District 5 community policing office at 723-8230 (other neighborhoods, call 529-3111 to be directed to the appropriate district office).

“Basically, we work with the community — see if there are any safety issues,” explained officer Teisa Eteuati, who works in the Kalihi district. Also, “A lot of our citizen patrols bring up problems that (HPD’s) patrols don’t always have time for,” such as parking issues, abandoned vehicles, potholes and “beautification” issues.

From HonoluluTraffic: Dennis Callan has been working on five different rail-centered movies which he created during the past year, and has now finished editing and submitted them to Olelo for broadcast before the Primary. Each movie will get four showings, mostly in prime time. Here are the first few movies with times and YouTube links. This is the link to the full schedule.

SA: Sears' departure from Ala Moana Center in 2014 will result in more than a substitute tenant at the Ewa end of Hawaii's largest mall; it will mean a significant expansion that will draw more shoppers, and bring a substantial reinvestment in retail.

An expansion of shops in what has been a virtually empty parking lot out to Piikoi Street and up four levels should bring new life to the giant plaza and could play a large role in Honolulu's economic recovery….

When Sears announced in March that it would close its store at Ala Moana, the assumption was that General Growth would merely invest $500 million to buy back Sears' lease to the 340,000-square-foot space and find more profitable use.

What has been known by some as "the tired end of the mall" at Ala Moana instead will be renovated and expanded to nearly 700,000 square feet of new stores and restaurants, according to General Growth's plan

HAHAIONE VALLEY (HawaiiNewsNow) - A city refuse truck making its stop-and-go through Hahaione Valley Monday morning was a welcome sight for residents who had been waiting for their overflowing rubbish receptacles to be emptied. The garbage was supposed to have been collected on Saturday.

Brinkin, 66, who worked for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission before his retirement in 2010, was taken into custody Friday night. He spent the night in jail before he was released on bail, according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department….

Police say that Brinkin had pornographic images, some that appear to show children as young as 1 and 2 or 3 years old being sodomized and performing oral sex on adult men, in e-mail attachments linked to his account, according to a search warrant served by San Francisco police.

Representatives of America Online contacted authorities after coming across e-mail attachments from one of its subscriber's accounts containing what they believed to be child pornography.

AAN: New York courts have dismissed the claim by victims of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos for more than $US35 million from a US brokerage account, citing the competing claim by the Philippine government upheld by its own highest court.

THE Court of Appeals, New York's highest, says the state's courts for now "should not intercede" in a case that remains within the province of Philippine national sovereignty.